1917 Powerplus

[Shaky Jake]

Finally finished unlacing the front wheel. 36 spokes, only broke 3. The spokes were covered with grime on the hub end. Once cleaned they appeared to be nickel plated then painted black. Dale

Well done Dale. If I recall correctly, the old Indian catalogs mention an optional finish called "black Japan" or "Japan black," one or the other. Maybe that's what you have there.


Kevin

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[exeric]

I read that 'Japaning', or 'Japan Black' as it applies to motorcycles meant a part was submerged in a tank of black paint, and hung to dry. If you think about the painting technology of the teens, they had brushes, and dipping. Spray painting was off in the future. In regards to your spokes, I don't know if Indian was painting their spokes at that time, or leaving them in nickel. My 1924 Big Chief had black wheels, and that meant every part was black; i.e. hubs, spokes, and rim. I tend to think a 1917 Indian would have had nickel spokes as most bike manufacturers wanted the flashiest product they could make. By the time of the first world war, they wanted a product that was more plain and didn't look like it was squandering vital war materials. I know Excelsior, and Henderson were quite vocal about how conscientious they were with war resources.

[painterdale]

Kevin and Eric, Thanks for the replies. I have heard about the "Japan Black" but didn't know what it referred to until now. Maybe the black on mine was added later because what Eric says makes sense. Besides, would they have plated them before Japaning? Dale

[Spacke2speed]

Dale
While looking for stuff to take to an old car swap meet I am going to, I finally found a motorcycle swap meet box that I have misplaced. It is was a original Power Plus tool box, I took a picture of the inside of the tool box door to show you a little more of what the “Indian Guarantee and Supplied Tool list” looks like.
Spacke2speed
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14869[/Ahttp://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/bboard/attachment.php?attachmentid=14869&d=1427949482&thumb=1&stc=1TTACH]

[painterdale]

Thank you, Spacke2speed! That's very interesting to see. It's cool that a piece of paper inside a tool box was able to survive close to 100 years. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

Made any progress on that little gem yet, Dale?


Kevin

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[painterdale]

Been too busy following your thread, Kevin! I was going to tear mine down just to find the factory balance factor but thought better of it. Since I unlaced the front wheel, I've cleaned up the inside of the hub and taken stock of what condition it's in. Mine has the loose ball bearings. One of the balls and one cone has some galling. I'll seek out new ones. I greased it up and put it back together for now. Since I only broke 3 spokes I thought I might just look for 3 replacements but looking at the rest of them, some of them are pretty thin due to the corrosion. I sent samples to Buchanan's and got a nice set of stainless spokes and nickel plated brass, 2 flat nipples. They look fantastic! Just like original. I now need to find a way to make them look not as fantastic so they look like they belong there. Then I'll lace up and put tires on. I'm thinking white. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

I think Randy Walker might have the balls and cones for that wheel Dave.

Kevin

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[Oldtimer Service]

In my opinion 1917 PP should have a Troxel Jumbo saddle. Also in 1917 there should be open compression and extension springs ( which I have for sale ). Spring tubes were used for the first time on 1921 PP. So I think the saddle assembly is from later model ( post 1921 ).
I found a picture of 1921 PP with Mesinger Nr.1 saddle and spring tubes.

Indian Powerplus Left View.jpg

If anyone is looking for Mesinger Nr.1 or Troxel Jumbo saddles I would be glad to help.:-)

http://oldtimerservice.riders.pl/part1.htm

I also restore original saddles.

http://oldtimerservice.riders.pl/mot...ion/index.html

[painterdale]

So, I'm sitting in the garage trying to figure out how to remove the rear wheel on this thing. There is no good jacking point underneath without risking damage to the muffler. Rear fender is not hinged. Wires running through the rear fender. I suppose I could disconnect the wire at the fuse block, remove the rear fender, etc., etc... I'm sure this is not the way they did it on the side of the road back in the day. Dale

[Rubone]

[QUOTE]I'm sure this is not the way they did it on the side of the road back in the day.[QUOTE]

That is correct. They usually just slung it down on its side and pulled the wheel....

[painterdale]

I was afraid of that! Dale

[exeric]

Dale, it might be a good time to come up with a jacking fixture that works off the lower rear frame tubes, or something like the hand operated fulcrum they use in Formula 1 racing to lift the car. You're probably going to need something like that on many occasions over the years; as I'm sure your bike isn't going anywhere. This video shows the manual jack F1 uses. . . Cool video too.

https://youtu.be/27DMKK5EEzo

[painterdale]

Thanks, Eric! You're right, The bike is not going anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully I won't be removing the rear wheel too many times. For now I'm just going to loosen things and have a couple friends lift the rear end high enough to get the wheel out and set it down on the rear stand. I thought I might spark some conversation about how it is/was done. The video is cool. Scary moment with the fire though, huh? Dale

[painterdale]

I am still looking for an original rear stand if anyone has one to sell. Thanks, Dale